Hey everybody! I hope everybody’s day wasn’t too brutal, since most of us BC kids just got back to school after a killer two weeks of Spring Break! My Spring Break was great! I was very productive running around my beautiful city of Richmond, doing just about everything, and soaking up the sunlight we were blessed to have! How was your Spring Break?

So let me introduce myself a little bit! My name is Danica Tan, and I am the most energetic, and I guess I can say entertaining person you’ll ever meet. I will never fail to surprise you with the weirdest things I say, or do. Also, let me add that I am your newly crowned Miss Teen Richmond World of 2013! I was given this title on February 10th, 2013 (which by the way, was also my little sister Trisha’s 8th birthday, props to my mom for hosting my sisters birthday party, and leaving a couple hours early to watch me win my title.) at the BC Provincial Pageant. It was a very, very memorable night. I was able to make new friends who I will never forget, and experience something totally new to me. You can view the photos of the Provincial Pageant here!

I mean, if you knew me before I won this title you would have never thought that I would be the type to enter a pageant. I never thought I would either! Winning this title definitely shocked a lot of people. I remember my grade 10 science teacher Mr. Sidhu coming up to me during math class just to talk about my newly won title. I remember him clearly saying “Wow Danica, I’m so proud of you! And shocked! Like, I never, ever thought that you were the type to enter a pageant! I mean seriously, tell me, how did this all happen?! How did you get the idea to try out in the first place? I’m just so shocked! But in a good way, I swear!”. Well like they always say, life is filled with many surprises. Some are good, some not so much. But hey, life also moves on!

So what have I been up to since I won the title Miss Teen Richmond? Well, I haven’t dropped out of school yet due to the large work load it brings along, and I swear, I won’t any time soon! Or ever. 🙂 But in all seriousness, I’ve been using my time wisely! I’ve managed to find some sponsors, such as Boston Pizza, Mia Boutique, Paolo Montano, & Makeup By Heidi! I’m hoping to find more before Nationals! So if you’re interested in sponsoring me or know someone who’s kind enough to do so, please don’t hesitate to contact me at MissTeenRichmond2013@live.com. I don’t bite!

I’ve also made my very first public appearance at this years SOS Children’s Village BC’s Yoga For Hope. I had a lot of fun meeting new people, and trying out Yoga for the first time! It was painful at first, and then you get used to it. But trust me, Yoga isn’t as easy as it looks guys! Since then I have been working with SOS to make their upcoming Run & Walk event on May 26 2013, at the Olympic Oval in Richmond a huge success! I will be there, and so will other BC title holders, and a few of my school friends! For more information, click here! I am very excited to help make this event one everyone will remember! I’ve also had a meeting with Kids Help Phone, we have agreed to work together to promote my platform, which is to raise awareness to bullying! I myself, and two of my other friends Jasmine Lehal, & Connie Chan will be going to local Richmond elementary schools to talk about the effects of bullying. More information will be posted as soon as I return from my next meeting!

Boston Pizza has also been a very big help, they have helped me organize an event called Celebrity Server Night which took place on March 25th 2013! This event was such a big hit! I received 15% of everybody’s subtotal bill that night and was able to raise hundreds of dollars! I was also able to meet new people around my community who were beyond supportive! I’d like to thank my family & friends for coming out that night as well! Richmond News contacted me a few days before to cover a story about it, you can read it here! This article also covers Boston Pizza’s continuous support for me all the way to June! They set up a rebate program for me where anyone can dine at Boston Pizza Ackroyd, and 10% of their subtotal bill goes towards my cause, Free The Children if they simply write my name, Danica Tan on the back of their receipt and drop it off at the “Team Sponsorship/Rebate Program” box located in the corner of their bar.

Now that I’ve covered the work I’ve done so far around my community (I’m sure I have missed a couple more things but that’s all I can think of at the moment.), I’d like to share some recent news! My sponsors Paolo Montano, Makeup By Heidi and I put together my first official photo shoot as Miss Teen Richmond! It was a lot of fun, but a lot of work. We were in the studio for about 7 hours working on this shoot! My favourite part was doing the workout shots. My photographer, makeup artist and I had trouble thinking of poses for me to do because..

I am not exactly the most fit person out there.

I am also not very flexible.

Honestly, I just don’t work out. I’m not that type of person. I play sports, but working out, stretching and what not is not my forte.

So you can imagine how much laughs we shared during the process of getting the right shots. They didn’t turn out that bad at least! Although I got a lot of teasing from my friends and family because they all know how unfit I am, and how often I really work out… Hahaha! Tough love. You can check them out here!

And lastly, before I wrap up this very, very long post, let me add that if you have nothing else to do you guys can check out a few news articles written about me! My personal favourite was the one the Philippine Canadian Inquirer wrote about me. It goes into detail about my lifestyle as Danica Tan, and as Miss Teen Richmond World. You can also check that out here! And here is a list of other news articles, biographies, etc. written about me! Just click the link “See More” underneath “Personal Information” and a bunch of links underneath the label “Press Release” should pop up for ya!

Thank you again for the unconditional love and support I have received from each and every one of you! Especially to my mom and dad, Lilani & George, siblings, Gershwyn, Francis & Trisha, as well as my two aunts Airie & Caroline. I know how much you guys have done for me during this whole life changing journey. I appreciate it very much!

I also apologize to all my readers out there if I put you to sleep as you were reading my very long blog. But hey! At least I started my blog off with a bang! Feel free to leave some comments, I always go through them. It’s nice to know that I’m not just talking to myself behind a computer screen as I type this out.

Congratulations Danica Tan. You have left a great account of yourself on here, on this blog from May to July in 2013 competition. You’ve made great content and used lots of well formatted images, half original ? perhapsd less but good ideas, and text and links (some are broken.. like the ones in this post) but overall really well done. Your posts made during July 14 – 20 pageant week showing pics from around town and activities is excellent work. Your sponsor buttons on the bottom of your posts actually is something I have NEVER SEEN BEFORE, and truthfully I don’t care much for it .. for SEO reasons, but I’m giving you points for business acumen and originality and scoring you 8.8 overall which is the mean excellent score this year. Good luck on Sat nite.

Hi! I'm Mina Xue, Miss Teenage Richmond 2018!

Mina Xue, 15 years old, is a versatile, compassionate girl in Grade 10, Richmond Secondary School. After fighting against emotional struggle in the initial immigration years, she has been passionate about studying psychology in university and wants to become an art therapist. To be well-qualified for the career, she has made great efforts to make preparation. She has mastered several musical instruments: piano, flute, guitar, organ and pipa. Through years of dedicated practicing every day, she has achieved Royal Conservatory of Music piano Level 10 and is still working on ARCT level. She is the member of Richmond Delta Youth Orchestra, the School Vocal Jazz and Vancouver International School of Music. Her beautiful voice won her the third place in school singing contest. Besides music, visual arts are also her strength which will be utilised as an art therapist. She is an avid volunteer for the community. Firstly, she has been volunteering as an organist in Richmond United Church and as a flutist for its Dramatic Discovery Workshop for two years. In addition, she has been a long-term volunteer in Richmond Art Gallery. She also took great interest in volunteering in various sports events, such as Dragon Boat festival and Wheelchair Curling Bonspiel. After having lived in Canada for over 4 years, she believes the most important lesson she has got is to give.